In his last chapter John H. Haddox, the author of Vasconcelos of Mexico, acknowledges that the subject of his study “was an extremely complex figure” (p. 73); and well he should, for Vasconcelos carried through successful careers in polities, education, and philosophy. In what must have been a most formidable challenge, Haddox has attempted to capture the essence of this many-sided mind in a book whose text runs to only 73 pages. Within this extremely limited scope he succeeds admirably.

Six brief chapters analyze the thinking of the self-styled Ulises Criollo from the days in which as a young idealist he put together the framework of his country’s first national system of education to those of an embittered and caustic old man. In his discussion of Vasconcelos’ controversial views on the place of the Indian in Mexican society, a prominent key to his thinking, Haddox takes his stand with the defenders of the Mexican. In his opinion Vasconcelos opposed only an indigenismo that denied the importance of the Spanish contribution, which he called the foundation of Mexico. To Vasconcelos, writes the author, the salvation of Mexico lay in the racial mixture of Spaniard and Indian. However, in accepting this interpretation, Haddox overlooks a multitude of bitter denunciations of the indigenistas by Vasconcelos that date back to his days in the Ministry of Education.

Haddox’s small monograph offers a readable and well-organized capsule summary of Vasconcelos’ thought. Teachers who have no time to probe for themselves the numerous books and countless articles of this complex Mexican master will welcome the excellent job that Haddox has done for them.